Beauty and the Beast AU
by StorSpeaker
Summary: Pyrrha Nikos, the princess of Mistrial was cursed, turning her into a hideous monster; however she has hope that the curse will break when she finds true love. Jaune Arc is the social pariah at his school and is the target of all the bullies there; and he can't (literally) fight back. So what happens when Jaune is lost in the woods and meets a Grimm that doesn't act like a monster?
1. Once Upon a Time

**Beauty and the Beast **

**A/N: While scoping out the world of iFunny and Tumblr, under the profile of ****_tflatte_**** this person thought of a Beauty and the Beast Arkos story. So while I haven't seen anything of that sort on RWBY fanfics, I decided to this as a challenge…an incredible and hopefully long challenge. I will work on this first chapter in my free time before posting it and getting into my fanfic schedule. **

**So I won't be starting this story with an 'ENJOY!' like I will do later on, I will start it like all great fairy tales are started; enjoy the story. **

_Once Upon a Time… _

There was the kingdom of Mistrial. A glorious kingdom, ruled by a king who ruled his subjects fairly and just, with hair that matched his burning passion he protected his land. He did not fight in wars unless he had no choice and this led to him finding a wife, a woman with kindness and caring of a mother written in her green eyes, which enchanted the king. Soon they were wed and the kingdom celebrated at the introduction of their new queen and soon, this king had a daughter, whom he named Pyrrha.

Her hair was as red as the evening sun and eyes more enchanting than emeralds and while most would believe that she was cold, calculating, harsh and selfish.

…

…

…

She was quite the opposite.

She was kind, caring and considerate.

When she was a child, she, along with her father, were exploring the village, concealed under cloaks of course and her father was telling her of the kingdom she would rule.

"Patience is an important rule Pyrrha, remember that. A foolish king races in without a plan in mind, a clever one waits and plans; no matter the costs at stake."

Pyrrha nodded, "Yes daddy."

He smiled before bending and kissing her forehead, "I am going to get some food for us, one moment."

Pyrrha smiled before waiting exactly where she was supposed to by the building.

However as luck would have it, a woman had knocked her over in a rush, yelping the young princess fell to the ground.

"Oi, watch it!" the woman yelled.

"Hey!" someone else shouted out, a boy strode forward no older than herself, with bright yellow hair, "You knocked her over. I believe that you should be the one to apologize."

Pyrrha was slowly picking herself up.

"Why should I apologize when she-" the woman gasped.

The boy looked to see a girl; he wouldn't dare say she was pretty because girls had cooties, but she did look…cool. She had a red ponytail and a golden circle around her head, when she turned her eyes reminded him of the grass way out in the countryside.

"Y-Y-Your majesty!"" the woman cried before kneeling on the ground, "P-Please forgive my impudence!"

The boy cocked his head, impudence what did that mean?

Pyrrha shook her head when she saw the woman who knocked her down…maybe she should do what mommy did.

"Why did you knock me over?" she asked calmly.

The woman trembled, "M-My children princess, they c-cannot be left alone for long."

Pyrrha smiled, "Then go. I can tell that children are waiting for their mommy to be home soon."

The woman looked up in disbelief before nodding and after saying her thanks she hurried off.

The boy looked on with surprise before turning to the girl, "That was cool!" he said.

Pyrrha smiled bashfully before bowing her head, the boy was cute, "Thanks."

"So what's your name?" he asked.

"Pyrrha, Pyrrha Nikos."

The boy immediately knew of the princess but he didn't think on the manners so he just said, "Nice to meet you, I'm Sun."

Pyrrha smiled, then she saw her father hurrying toward her, "Sorry, I have to go now."

Sun nodded before leaving himself, Pyrrha pulled her hood back on as her father approached.

"Are you alright?" he asked, "Why did you reveal your face?"

Pyrrha just said, "I made a friend and a grown up decision."

**Line Break**

Pyrrha continued to be kind and gentle to all she met.

However, this would lead her to trouble.

For one day, she was attacked by cruel and evil men; the fearsome Cardinals while she was out in the gardens, her father searched for many days and nights without a trace and almost gave into despair until one day, a boy had snuck into his chambers and told him of the princess.

The king was still in his study, clasping his head in his hands with grief at his missing daughter. Then his fire surged before going out entirely and something rolled out, hopping to its feet it looked around excitedly.

"That was awesome! I see why Santa enjoys it so much."

The king looked at the boy, refusing to call upon his guards at the sight of the small child and said, "Who are you?"

The boy looked at him brightly, "I'm Sun, and I know where your daughter is."

In a flash the king was kneeling by the boy's side and grasping his shoulders, "How? Why did you not come here sooners?" he rattled the boy, "Speak!"

The boy looked at him blankly before lifting his shirt, a moment later a bright yellow tail swung out and swished before the king's eyes.

Now it all made sense, the kingdom had come out of a war with Faunus kind; and while they had some Faunus in town, the towns people didn't exactly respect Faunus that well.

"The guards wouldn't let me through," Sun explained, "So I spent the next several days trying to find my way in; it took a lot of effort before I reached here and I'm glad I could finally talk to you."

"Just tell me where my daughter is," the man pleaded.

With Sun's help the king saved his daughter and sentenced the Cardinals to death, however he refused to forgive himself and kept her locked up in the castle in hopes to protect his young daughter.

She remained there for four years until when she reached her age as a teenager she had enough; the curiosity inside her burned hotter than any flame and she took matters into her own hands. Sneaking out of the castle in the dead of night with some clothes and a cloak, she wandered into her village and was shocked at what she saw. A blonde monkey Faunus was laughing as he ran from some angry villagers; however it sounded like a song as well.

"Riff-raff!" one

"Street Rat!" A guard shouted

"Scoundrel!"

"Take that!"

People threw a mix of food, pots and even shoes at the Faunus, who skillfully dodged before perching himself carefully onto a post.

"Just a little snack guys," he said.

A flurry of sharp objects flew at him which he barely managed to block with a whirl of what appeared to be a red staff.

"Rip him open, take it back guys!"

"I can take a hint, gotta face the facts," with a shrug he turned before holding up his staff, "You're my only friend Bang Bang!"

He finished as he kissed it tenderly before leaping to another post, using his tail to swing around before he rolled as he hit the ground before sprinting away. Pyrrha recognized the person as Sun, the young boy from years ago and quickly tailed him, taking in the sights, she used a wagon to climb onto a ledge before leaping onto the roof; while she was a princess she started to get stronger after being kidnapped and managed to climb onto the roof with ease. Sprinting across the roof, shingles slid off as she rushed after the monkey Faunus until he climbed into an empty building. Slowing her pace she noticed that a window was equal to where she was on the roof, rolling her shoulders and scraping up her courage she sprinted forward before diving off the roof and into the building. With a loud 'THUD' she crashed and slid on the floor, groaning at the pain in her arms and shoulder, she got to her feet before looking around to see an empty building.

He was probably on the lower floors.

Getting to her feet, she slowly went down the steps of the old raggedy building; ducking under a cloth covering a doorframe she sees a makeshift bedroom. Pillows in the corner make up the 'bed' while rugs were strewn across the room like a carpet, banana peels were all thrown in a pile in a corner and the Faunus in question was currently pulling a knife out of his staff. Having a sudden intuition Pyrrha slowly moved to the right, only to let out a scream when the knife Sun was polishing came flying at her and embedding itself into the doorframe.

"Man are you guards getting girlier or-"

He cut off as the first thing he saw was a woman with beautiful red hair and eyes a brilliant green, then he noticed the cut along her cheek. Dropping his staff he quickly took a piece of cloth from his pocket as he rushed to the woman.

"I am so sorry!" he exclaimed as he pressed the cloth onto the cheek, "I thought you were a guard."

"How did you know I was here?" she asked.

Sun shrugged, "Faunus talent, we have sharper senses than most humans."

After cleaning the blood off of the wound Sun set down the cloth before taking a step back sheepishly while scratching his head, "I'm…well I'm-"

"Sun."

Said boy blinked before looking at her, "How-"

Then it hit him, the princess.

He quickly fell into a kneel at her feet, "I-I plead for your forgiveness your majesty at my-"

Pyrrha sighed before kneeling down next to him, "You saved my life, I should be thanking you."

Sun nodded before slowly getting to his feet and helped Pyrrha to hers.

They spent the next few hours talking to each other and catching up on the past years, as it turned out Sun was actually planning to join the army as a knight as he trained hard with his staff; the only reason he stole was to survive another day. He only took enough for three small meals, the water he managed to filter from the rivers outside of the city. As time went by Pyrrha had to return to the castle, so she said goodbye and returned back to castle.

When the princess returned, she found her father in her room and he was furious to learn she left the castle, however Pyrrha soothed his anger and stated that by keeping her in the tower he was making it worse for her. After pleading with her father to allow her to roam freely, he allowed, on the condition of being trained by the greatest witch in the land.

Yes, witch.

However she was a good witch…literally, her title was actually Glynda the Good Witch.

She was known, along with her colleague Ozpin the Wise, were both renowned fighters and Ozpin agreed to allow Goodwitch freedom to train Pyrrha as he continued to wander around the land.

Glynda was very strict with the young girl, but Pyrrha never relented and soon grew strong in combat; and soon she met Sun again, who learned how to fight from her, and although the guards did not like how he used a staff rather than the sword and shield of a warrior, they found he was quite formidable with it. As time went on, the Monkey Faunus was soon falling hopelessly in love with Pyrrha and the same for the girl as well.

They continued to bond over time and before they grew into adulthood, Sun becoming a great knight of the Mistrial army. As the kings rein neared its end, Pyrrha was to become queen; and on the day of her coronation, she planned on making it possible for Sun to 'court' her while in reality they were to be wed, however fate was not on their side and at the night celebration before the coronation, mischief struck.

Mercury Black was a warlock and he, along with his master Cinder Fall, Witch of Ash, loathed Mistrial with a passion; Cinder, along with Mercury, decided to curse the new queen.

With a simple trap.

Love.

And the only requirement, a kiss.

Pyrrha was going to be soon coronate, and she longed for Sun to be at her side; however he was missing ever since the start of that day. As she grew lonely and impatient, she met a charming man with hair of the finest silver and clothes of a prince. Not knowing his name they talked most of the celebratory ball, and Pyrrha began to feel a connection to this man and Sun was slowly slipping from her mind.

The Monkey Knight was currently trying to hurry to the castle, after buying the greatest thing he could to celebrate this day; a wedding ring for his soon-to-be.

He entered the castle and moved swiftly through the ball, taking a glass of wine from one of the servants to cool his nerves, as he searched for his beloved and went out onto the balcony, his heart stopped at what he saw.

Pyrrha was currently kissing another man.

His heart shattering, he dropped the glass which shattered on impact as he sprinted out of the castle, tears burning from his eyes.

Pyrrha was in heaven, this strange man was treating her almost better than Sun, so to give him a token of affection she decided to give him a small, chaste kiss. However as the sound of broken glass sounded she turned to see a yellow tail disappearing into the crowd.

With horror, she heard an evil cackling from behind her, turning she sees the man rising into the air as fire left the candles before whirling around in a circle and forming a woman with pitch-black hair and eyes glowing red.

"Ah," she said, "You have done well Mercury."

Mercury chuckled before saying, "She was so desperate that it was practically too easy."

Then Pyrrha felt a tingling in her lips before she demanded, "What did you do to me?!"

The tingling began to slowly grow across her mouth and spreading across her body.

A crowd began to form; numerous princes and prospectors of the woman's hand began to worry about what would happen next.

"Why, a curse of course."

The crowd gasped and Pyrrha paled at the word.

"You see," the fire witch began before walking on the air, "Your queen was so clueless, so…desperate for love that she failed to remain to the bit right in front of her; as such I have decided to curse her, along with all who remain in this castle."

Pyrrha whirled around to see the whole crowd of people leaving in a panic; she felt tears in her eyes as some of the servants that had been there since she was a child leave without a backwards glance.

"Don't worry Ma'am."

A boy with pitch black hair, dark eyes and wearing a fine suit, suggesting that he was a party attender, strode forward with confidence.

"Jeez, is that all? A purse? I hope it's not burgundy."

A blonde servant in a maid outfit walked forward with a cocky smirk.

A small handful of the older staff stood there, slightly afraid but firm.

Cinder cocked an eyebrow, "Very well."

Then she and Mercury zoomed forward and whirled their hands and chanted in a bizarre language. Then a wave of black and fiery energy expanded before filling up the whole castle, the retreating party-goers saw that castle seemed to darken significantly as the land around it turned dark and grey, the tree's turned brown and harsh looking as the magic finally ended just before the start of the village outside the castle.

Inside the castle, all that remained felt the magic affect their bodies and soon were crying out in pain.

The maid felt her body shrink before her arms seemed to shrink and narrow as heat grew in her hair and palms. Shaking her body she tried to move only to realize her feet had stuck together, hopping around she saw in the reflection of a fallen silver platter that she was indeed a candelabrum.

The boy felt his body constricting as his arms grew smaller, and his vision seemed to change slightly, after it ended he found he could still move however his view looked slightly pinkish, as if looking through stained glass. On his face, he felt something moving slightly joining a candelabrum on the ground he saw that he was a small clock, looking through pink glass.

The once beautiful princess started change and morph, her hands extended to claws as her feet seemed to grow and slightly narrow as her body grew larger and heavier. Finally as the process finished she flopped down to see that she needed to walk on four legs instead of two; slowly looking into a mirror she was horrified at what she saw.

Her 'hands' were actually paws with sharp but narrow claws, the mane that went from her head down to her upper back was still a red but it was dulled with a deep black, her feet were a pix of paws and talons as feathers stretched from her upper to lower back; cool black scales were connected along her belly as Pyrrha finally realized what she was.

She was a monster, a Beast.

Cackling evilly Cinder relished in the queens plight, believing that it was enough she and Mercury left the castle, leaving Pyrrha roaring in despair as she ran throughout the castle and headed to her room, destroying everything in her path in her rush.

**Line Break **

Pyrrha laid there on the ground, her paws folded under her uncomfortably, however that was the only way she knew how as a human.

Strange…human. She never thought it would sound so alien.

"I am so sorry."

Pyrrha raised her head up to see Ozpin the Wise striding up to her, his grey hair tousled as usual as he used a wooden cane to walk towards her, his robes were a mix of black and a faded green and a satchel hung from his shoulders.

Pyrrha whimpered lightly as he approached.

"Wait," Ozpin said before reaching into the satchel, a moment later he pulled out a powdery substance before sprinkling it over Pyrrha, "There."

_'__What did that do?' _Pyrrha wondered.

"Allow me to understand your thoughts," Ozpin stated, he smiled at her confused look before he continued, "You see, while you have the body of a Beast, you still have the mind of a human, so you can speak; however you can only do it to those you trust, so it's safe to point out that all the people in the castle are your friends and can communicate telepathically, or with your mind."

Pyrrha bobbed her head, _'Ok. So is it possible to fix this?' _

Ozpin sighed, "I am afraid not. Spells and jinxes can be fixed by the proper counter-jinx or phrase, curses are another matter entirely."

Ozpin sat down next to the princess, "Curses are almost impossible to break, almost. Older curses need to be broken in ways you'd rather not know, so is a good thing that it is a newer curse; however the problem is…it requires true love."

Pyrrha jerked up her head, _'So if I find Sun and-' _

"No, it is not Sun."

Pyrrha blinked in surprise, _'What?' _

Ozpin carefully reached out and stroked Pyrrha's mane, "True love…is very difficult to find, I will not deny that you and Sun would have had a beautiful love…however that was not the _true_ love we need in this case; he is one of the lucky few who will meet his true love, a cat Faunus by the name of Blake, on his way from Mistrial."

Pyrrha looked down sadly, a whine emanating from her throat.

A hand comfortingly rubbed her wolf head as she whined, "It's alright your majesty, as I said there are a few who will meet their love. You will be one of them."

Pyrrha looked at the wanderer in confusion, rising to his feet he took his cane and used it to slam onto the ground thrice before a whirlwind surrounded her.

"ACK!"

"WOOHOO!"

A clock and a candelabrum crashed into each other as the rest of the people who stayed joined them; they were all an assortment of supplies like brooms, plates, silverware, etc. and they stared at their princess in shock.

With a brush of wind and the sound of heels on stone, Glynda Goodwitch walked forward, her purple cape flowing in the wind and a riding crop in her hand. Standing next to her colleague, she whirled the crop around her head and purple streaks flew around the air, Ozpin pounded a steady beat into the ground with his cane, soon the sound of clocks filled the air with a steady ticking sound.

Flipping his cane he caught it with his left hand by the end before pointing the handle at the crowd of utensils, objects, appliances and the Beast.

Glynda whirled her crop one more time and with her right hand she pointed the crop at the crowd as well.

Their shoulders touching together, they then said in a loud powerful voice, "We enact the power of the **Ancient Ones**, by the power vested in us, heed our cry. This Curse is strong and powerful, we enact the power of **Saint Raphael**; this child is alone and searches for he, the child is lost and is in need of she."

Wind rippled around Pyrrha and the others, "We give the gift of immortality to these people, in hopes that they will receive their happy ending. We grant the immortality of the beings above and beyond."

The colors circled the group again before a purple and green wall rose up, imbedded with a tiara and cogs.

Soon after, Glynda collapsed to the ground as she panted heavily. Ozpin wearily leaned on his cane, "There."

_'__What has happened, what have you done?!' _Pyrrha demanded.

"Simply put we made you immortal…until you find your true love of course," Ozpin stated.

"Wait…what?" the clock asked.

Ozpin sighed, "In order to break the Curse that was enacted onto your princess, she must find her true love and he must reciprocate her feelings."

"So we just have to wait for princess here to get a kiss from a lover boy?" the candelabra asked, "How long will that take?" she asked.

Ozpin shook his head, "I sadly do not know, I do not know how long your wait will be; but I wish you the best of luck."

With that and the swirl of the wind the pair were gone.

**_Line Break _**

_Legends told of a monster, said to live in the old castle of Mistrial; one who murdered the soon to be queen and took over the castle. To this day it is said that it wanders the halls of the old castle, willing to ensnare its next victim to wonder into that old stone building. _

**A/N: And that's that for the first chapter, whatcha think? **

**Read, Have a Great Day and God Bless. **

**Review**


	2. Into the Woods

**Chapter **

**A/N: A month late, sorry about that, just busy with more writing, writers block and marching band. So chapter got less reviews than I expected but not problem, yes this is now Jaune and this is now modern times. **

**Yes, modern times. **

**ENJOY! **

_'__Gonna be late! Gonna be late! Gonna be late! Gonna be late! Gonna be late! Gonna be late!" _

A blonde haired, blue eyed boy was sprinting down the road, his shoes untied, collared shirt ruffled and not buttoned, revealing a white shirt underneath. A piece of toast was being held by the persons teeth as he put his arms through the straps of his backpack haphazardly before yanking the toast from his mouth.

Was it his fault he overslept? No. His stupid alarm clock was faulty and no matter how many times he asked for a new one, his father would go on about how it worked fine.

'Fine' being a rather loose term as if kept going off two hours early.

Dashing around some people he stuffed the toast back and took a bite before beginning to button up the collared shirt.

Stupid School Dress Code.

Throwing himself around the corner, he crashed into a person who was walking that same way. They both fell to the ground in a heap.

"I am sososososososo sorry sir but I really need to get going!" The person said as he got to his feet.

The boy was saddened at the fact he lost his breakfast but he picked up his bag and continued his sprint.

The man picked himself off, before picking up his fallen cane; he smiled at the retreating form.

"You may just be the one," Ozpin said softly, "Jaune Arc."

* * *

><p>"JAUNE ARC!"<p>

Jaune cursed his luck, there in front of him were the school bullies; consisting of Emerald and Cardin Winchester.

Jaune never really got along with Cardin Winchester, mainly because of their opposing views of Faunus kind; add that to how Jaune never fought back against bullies and you have the recipe of chaos.

Emerald was another story, to make it easy she was a straight up witch minus the 'w' and replace it with a 'b' but Jaune never called her that because of manners…and he didn't like cursing.

Jaune trudged up the steps, might as well get it over with.

Cardin immediately pushed him down the steps, his bag cushioning the ground before Cardin stomped in the blonde's gut. Letting out a wheezing gasp, Jaune rolled on the ground with pain before he felt a hand grab the back of his head.

Nails scraped against his scalp as he heard Emerald whisper, "Still pathetic as ever Arc. Don't forget that."

With that she let him go as she and Cardin walked away laughing.

They went easy on him for some reason.

Getting to his feet, he tenderly rubbed his head where the nails scraped his head. Might as well hurry to class.

As he walked, he still held himself as if he was a person but he still felt weak, but bullying happens and according to his dad, all he needed for them to stop was to: A) Get a girlfriend, which wasn't going to happen as most of the girls here saw his as pathetic (Except a minor few, but they were off limits) or B) Beat them up. Which was pointless as Jaune had no muscles whatsoever…as all.

So with that, he walked into his first class (World History) before he began to tie his shoes.

"What happened this time?" he heard.

"That obvious huh?" Jaune replied.

Sitting up, he saw his friend Ruby sitting next to him. She was a year younger than him, as this class allowed a mix of older and younger students; she was currently wearing her uniform, but had on her traditional red jacket with a rose emblem on the zipper.

"Well a laughing Emerald and smirking Cardin weren't exactly subtle hints."

Jaune shrugged, "They went easy this time at least."

"Jaune, why don't you tell anyone?" Ruby asked. "I know the teachers would be happy to-"

"Which is why I don't tell Principal Ironwood. If I do, then Emerald and Cardin will double their efforts to bully me. I am better of doing nothing," Jaune stated.

Ruby sighed, "Why do you have to do this on your own?" she asked.

Jaune smiled, "Because you _loovvveee _me Rubes."

Ruby pouted, "Weiss and the others aren't going to be happy," she said.

Jaune shrugged, "Let me deal with them."

* * *

><p>Jaune exited the class and hurried to lunch, Ports classes were so dull the only reason he kept his job was because he probably bored the investigators to sleep.<p>

Hurrying into the lunch room, he grabbed a tray of roast beef and a sweet tea before making his way to the table in the corner, which was where his entire group sat at.

A moment later, something wrapped him into a chokehold, "Hi Jauney!"

Jaune grinned but found it's difficult to get air, so he tapped onto the persons arm several times, "Air Nora."

A moment later, Nora Valkyrie stood in front of him, wearing a pink skirt and her collared shirt was slightly unbuttoned. She was a very hyperactive girl and Jaune was one of the few people to calm the girl.

As Nora pulled a plate of pancakes out of nowhere (They all learned never to question that which was Nora) Jaune began to eat, he felt a chill creep up his spine, turning he saw the sight a very furious heiress.

Weiss Schnee was the heiress of the Schnee Energy Company in the town, it was a very wide spread business but her father chose to live in Vale to try and get away from the major attention.

At first, Weiss and Jaune did not get along, mainly because of Jaune's numerous attempts to ask her out back in middle school (when he had braces back then) but after numerous failed attempts he realized that Weiss was not for him and arranged her to date a friend of his as a sort of apology, a friend who was currently trying to save his Jaune's life.

"Now wait a minute Weiss, let's just calm down and work on this rationally alright?"

Neptune Vasilias, had blue undercut hair and was wearing his leather straps on his arms along with his rolled up sleeves, and he was trying to calm his angry girlfriend.

"No! I specifically told him that if he was harmed again, I would not only report those despicable beings but injure him as well."

Weiss was a great person and became a sort of mother hen for Jaune; after Weiss did discover that his mother was dead, she took it upon herself to try and teach Jaune about how to act.

Jaune took this opportunity to quickly finish his meal; if he was to die, he wasn't going to do it with an empty stomach.

"Look. If it was very bad, Jaune would tell us, wouldn't you?"

Jaune quickly nodded his head, "Yes I would."

Weiss glared at him before sitting regally at the table and pulling out her lunch from home, Neptune sat down next to her with a smile.

"Did you hear the crazy news?!"

A moment later, a monkey Faunus flipped over their heads, his tail snagging a banana from Neptune's tray, the blue haired boy not surprised at all.

"No Sun, what news?" Neptune asked sarcastically.

Jaune blinked, "I don't know about this news?"

All the people at the table winced, "That's because…erm…"

"Hey guys!" Ruby said as she walked up, "Talking about the Combat Tournament?"

Oh.

Ruby then noticed that Jaune was at the table, "Uh…heheh."

Jaune understood.

You see, in the town most people here were trained in combat. In years past, the wildlife, filled with creatures known as Grimm, often tried to invade the town. So a majority of the people knew how to wield weapons, each living person in town specialized in a certain weapon.

Everyone was trained on how to properly use their own specific weapon, Jaune was not.

Jaune seemed to cause catastrophic events every time he would pick up his family weapon, Crocea Mors, whether destroying mailboxes or scratching up cars.

Combat was a big thing in the town…and while others spent hours training with their weapon, Jaune usually was in the library working his part time job.

However it did sting as all of the people he knew were amazing at fighting while he was not.

Jaune put on a smile and quickly said, "Don't worry about me. Go on…talk about this…Tournament, I could really care less."

So while all of his friends talked about the Tournament and the possible prize, Jaune sat there depressed for the rest of lunch.

He hoped his mood would improve at the library.

* * *

><p>Jaune had concluded that today was the worst day of his life.<p>

As he entered his final class, Combat Theory, he noticed that the original teacher, Mr. Moody, was not in and there was instead a woman with blonde hair in a tight bun.

Jaune didn't have time to continue his observations as Cardin shoved past him into the classroom. Sitting at his seat, he was joined by Sun, who was still munching on a banana and crouched in his chair…which was backwards.

"Who's the lady?" he asked.

Jaune shrugged, "No idea…and why are you still eating that?" he asked, "wasn't lunch about an hour ago."

Sun smiled at Jaune, showing off white teeth with banana bits clinging to them, "Good source of potassium."

"So attractive," Jaune deadpanned, "I wonder how your girlfriend will react as she sees _that_."

Before Sun could respond, the teacher said, "Settle down."

…

Nobody said that in ages, it was always 'Sit down!' to the students.

"I assume most of you are confused as to why _I_ am here. Your previous professor has been injured badly and cannot continue teaching for the rest of the year. So I will instead be taking his place."

The woman turned, revealing square glasses and piercing green eyes, "My name is Professor Goodwitch. You may refer to me as 'Miss' 'Ma'am' or 'Professor' if you wish and- is there something funny Mr. Winchester?"

The class looked at a snickering Cardin who said with a cocky smirk, "Aren't you a bit old to be a teacher?" he asked.

The crowd broke into some uneasy laughter, Professor Goodwitch narrowed her eyes, "Aren't you a little too primitive to possess that thing in your head called a brain?"

Cardin flushed before snarling at the teacher, who raised an eyebrow, daring the boy to continue.

Cardin backed down and slouched in his seat.

"Now then, I understand that this is a theory class," she leaned onto the desk, "I think it's pointless."

The class blinked, and several murmurs broke out, what was this teacher getting at?

"Instead I will be putting you into various combat matches and situations for the rest of the year. You will be put in these simulations either by yourself, or with a team selected, so I hope your combat skills are on par."

The class broke out excitedly, however Glynda noticed a blonde student quiet and down as he stared out a window…the one looking at her earlier, not Sun.

"Until then, here are your specifications…"

* * *

><p>Jaune quickly left the school and went down the street.<p>

He was very upset, him?! Fighting in the class? He would be so totally whipped by…well everyone. Everyone had _years_' worth of training while he had practically none.

He shook his head, no sense worrying about it; Jaune just embraced the idea that he was going to get totally beaten up.

He sighed before looking at his destination with a grin.

_'__Books of The Ancient and The New.'_

He walked into the book store, the bell tinkling slightly as he entered.

"Jaune?" he heard.

"Yeah," he said, "Need some help?" he asked.

"Hurry!"

Jaune quickly dropped his bag and ran through an archway, to see that a girl in black was currently balancing multiple books in her trembling arms. Jaune hurried to her side before taking almost half the books from the woman.

"I got it," he said.

The girl blew a strand of black hair out of her face, "Thanks Jaune."

Blake Belladonna had dark black hair pulled into a ponytail and horn-rimmed glasses, where her amber eyes flickered in the light. She had graduated school already and was eighteen, but had been dating Sun since they met back in high school, when Jaune was still a freshman and so was Sun, while Blake was a sophomore. She too was a Faunus, as she used to have a bow covering her ears, but now she wore it around her neck, leaving her black cat ears on display for everyone.

"No problem," he said.

Together they carried the books back to the front counter, "So…how was that book I recommended?" he asked.

"Oh my gosh I _loved it!"_ the cat Faunus gushed, her cat ears twitching in excitement.

"Right?!" Jaune exclaimed, "I loved how Leo planned the whole thing!"

Blake sighed, "It was _soooo_ adorable with the reunion with Calypso."

Jaune chuckled, "I just like how he went into a flaming frenzy."

Blake scowled before playfully smacking his shoulder, "Typical boy."

Jaune smiled sadly, "Not really…"

Blake didn't notice as she was returning the books to there proper places, "Well anyway, these books aren't going to fix themselves."

Jaune smiled, "I'm on it!" he exclaimed with a salute.

"Don't knock over the bookcases again, like last time!"

* * *

><p>Jaune whistled as he walked down the road, the sun was beginning to set in the distance and the wind blew faintly.<p>

This was his typical day; he would return home and fix himself dinner again, as his dad wouldn't be returning home until several more months.

His dad was actually a big business official and was missing a lot from home, not that Jaune minded; he didn't want his father to know much about his-

"Why hello there Arc?"

Jaune turned and felt his blood run cold as Emerald, Cardin and his cronies stood there with smirks, it was obvious that they were going to beat him up. So Jaune did the smartest thing he could.

He dropped his bag and sprinted to the closest thing he could see.

The forest.

"Oh he thinks he can lose us?" Emerald laughed, "Fool."

"Grab him!"

"Get him!"

"Let's have some fun!"

Jaune delved into the darkness of the forest.

He darted in random paths, avoiding the loud cheering and whooping noises he heard. Breathing heavily, he leapt over a log before taking a hard left, branches cut his cheeks and tangled themselves around his feet.

Jaune slowed down as he didn't hear any more noises, minus his panting. Sucking in a few more breaths he calmed his racing heart as he looked around the area, it was then that he realized why they had stopped cheering, and why it was so dark.

He was deep in the Forever Fall.

It was rumored that monstrous Grimm lived here, and the people that entered this part of the woods, barely made it out again. What made it worse was that it was near nightfall and he didn't know where he came from.

He was up a creek without a paddle.

Swallowing, he made slowly made his way around, the moon faintly visible through the crooked branches of the dead trees.

Why in the name of Remnant would he do this? Why did he have to run into the woods?! At least if he didn't he would have an idea of where he was after he had been beaten by-

SNAP!

Jaune froze, wincing he looked down at his feet, praying that it was he who made the noise.

There was nothing there. No branch or fallen twig.

His eyes darting around the edges of the woods, he tried to see what had made the noise; however the darkness made it impossible to make out anything.

Then he heard the soft growl.

Looking to where the noise emanated, he saw a form melt out from the darkness, its fur was matted with blood, and its claws were a dark black. Jaune began to step away but the beast kept advancing.

_'__This is it. Oh man I am going to die here!' _Jaune thought in despair.

His back his a tree, and the approaching monster had him cornered, Jaune closed his eyes as it was too close now.

He waited…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

What was going on?

Jaune opened his eye a crack to see the beast a bit far from Jaune, letting out a puff of air, it jerked its head before walking back into the brush.

Jaune blinked, did it just…gesture for him to follow?

Then the beast came back, and repeated the gesture.

This was really weird.

Jaune hesitantly began to follow, the creature managed to stay a distance away as they walked through the woods; it was then Jaune noticed that the former dead trees began to sprout leaves and the ground was being filled with green grass to replace the formerly yellow plant life.

The creature let out another noise, Jaune became focused again to see light!

Lights from the lampposts along the street!

He made it back!

Quickly sprinting forward, he looked around happily around before kissing a streetlamp.

He would never take light for granted again.

He then remembered the thing that brought him here.

"Thank-"

The remark died on his lips as he saw nothing behind him, just empty woods.

Jaune frowned, "Just what exactly are you?" he murmured.

The curiosity burned inside him; tomorrow he needed to search for answers.

**A/N: Sort of a short chapter but I really enjoyed writing it. I have taken the time to start talking aloud about my ideas and recording them on my phone, the previous chapter being the result. **

**Read, Have a Great Day and God Bless**

**Review**


	3. Burning Curiosity

**Chapter **

**A/N: Thanks for the complements guys. **

**ENJOY! **

The sounds of pounding paws and heavy panting filled the empty forest of the Forever Fall; the many Grimm that were stationary in an open glade turned their noses upwards, quickly recognizing the scent in the air before they turned and fled deeper into the forest.

It was the Beast.

All Grimm learned to recognize the scent of the great being, and as the younger Grimm grew, they learned the hard way to never attack or go near the Beast, or else it would ensure death.

As his pack left, a young Beowolf watched in awe as the Beast burst into the clearing. With sharp black claws the Beast stood a few inches taller than the alpha Beowolf, however the young Grimm noticed it stay on all four legs most times, as the creature breathed, its red mane shook slightly and the scales on its belly flexed and glistened in the dying light; the snout of the Beast sniffed the air several times, realizing its, possibly fatal, mistake the young Beowolf quickly fled from the clearing.

* * *

><p>Pyrrha knew about the fleeing Beowolf, but she hardly cared about it; which was very strange for her.<p>

Several years after her transformation, and as she adapted to being more animalistic, she noticed that the Grimm started to branch out and expand from her woods. Pyrrha knew that, even though the people would curse her and/or try to kill her, she would never forgive herself if her former subjects had been killed by the monsters her kingdom had protected them from.

So she hunted.

For many years, Pyrrha scoured the woods every couple months and hunted down what Grimm lurked in the forest, it would be her doing yes that would cause them to flee into the towns but she was only glad that she had significantly reduced the numbers of the Grimm that attacked.

She learned the weaknesses of the Nevermore and where to attack to bring it crashing from the air, she knew where a simple place to strike an Ursa would kill it easily, and how ferocious she must be to kill a pack of Beowolves.

Any King Taijitu were rare in the woods, however Pyrrha steered clear of those monsters unless she had to; and so did the King Taijitu that had also crossed her path.

However her thoughts were revolving on that boy she had aided.

There was fear in his eyes. A fear she had never recognized before.

Pyrrha, in her long lifetime, had faced her fair share of people in her woods, all of which were warriors; all had shown fear of the 'Beast' before gritting their teeth and engaging the Beast in combat.

They had pre-battle jitters.

All of the warriors she had faced were beaten (One man in particular stood in her mind; she had fought him several times before he seemed to give up entirely) swiftly before leaving them to rot.

She left them alive because they still were her subjects…or the descendants of her subjects; but that was all she owed them, how they made it out of her forest was their own problem.

The point was that _all _people that came into her forest knew of her reputation as the Beast, a monster.

So why didn't this boy?

He just froze, and pressed himself against the tree as he embraced death, not even dressed for combat…if wearing pants and a tunic counted.

The way he was breathing and his heart was pounding, he was running from something. But it couldn't have been a Grimm, his scent came from the human town, and the boy couldn't be chasing off Grimm that had initiated another invasion on his town, because where were his weapons?

So Pyrrha simply followed his scent, (Juniper berries and a bit of a candy she had liked as a child…mints she believed) back to the human town, making sure that he followed a bit behind. As they returned to the town Pyrrha was on guard in case the human boy would attack her, but he quickly left and was happily looking around the town before kissing one of the streetlights.

Taking that opportunity she had swiftly retreated back into the woods, but not before she heard a word being spoken.

_"__Thank-"_

No one had ever thanked Pyrrha for leading them home before, granted she never had done it before, but why did he do it?

Her head was filled with questions; she simply focused on returning to her castle for the night.

Leaping over a fallen tree, she sped down an old worn path; the trees seemed to stretch above her, hiding all the light emanating from the moon above.

Then it appeared.

The trees parted to reveal a massive grey castle connected to a slightly crumbling bridge, segments of the walls were missing and pieces of the edges were missing.

Pyrrha took that to remember what it used to appear, a brilliant white castle with guards stationary at the entrance of the bridge and at the gates, with swords at their sides and massive kite shields.

A once mighty kingdom…brought down by the greatest of advisories.

Time.

Pyrrha was very sad at appearance of her castle, but it wasn't like she had much of a choice to change it.

Shaking her head, she made a careful pace up the bridge.

* * *

><p>Pushing open the door with her paw, Pyrrha slowly stepped inside.<p>

She was standing in the courtyard of the castle; the once flowing fountain was now dry with leaves filling the basin. Roots and cracks stretched like the web of a spider across the stone tiles that spread across the hall, padding along the tiles she shut the gate behind her before heading inside the castle itself.

"Princess Pyrrha, welcome back."

Pyrrha looked to see a small clock tottering up to her.

After she had transformed, Pyrrha had soon discovered that the small clock was the first man that stood forward, a dignitary from one of the far Eastern kingdoms named Lie Ren; she quickly used him to help manage the castle while she was away. He organized the small workforce she had to try their best at keeping the castle clean, however it was difficult with Yang being extremely lazy, and the other people either being random objects, or not used to such work.

"Heya Pyr-Pyr, welcome back."

Yang Xiao Long was a recent maid (and a very attractive one as she liked to remind people) at the castle before the curse hit. While she was lazy at some points of the day, Yang would help with making sure everything was still visible during the night.

The candelabrum in question was hopping up to her with a wide grin across her…Face? Metal pole? She had no idea.

_"__Hello Ren, hello Yang," _she replied.

As the years went by, she learned to trust Ren and Yang very much (the other people who had remained either couldn't talk or didn't like to be around her) and both the clock and candlestick reciprocated the same feeling.

"How was killing the Grimm?" Yang asked.

Pyrrha faltered, she forgot about the whole reason she was out there.

Pyrrha took a deep breath, _"Fine," _she stated, _"Not much to worry about." _

The duo stared at their princess/master/friend, "Really?" Yang asked.

Pyrrha nodded, her mane bouncing up and down slightly.

"You didn't go hunting," Ren stated.

Pyrrha blinked her eyes and looked at Ren, _"What do you mean? Of course I did." _

Ren looked at her, his eyes pink as she looked at them through the glass, "You always push yourself when fighting those things, and come back with injuries branching minor scrapes to serious cuts; and you also do not have a single speck of dirt on your paws or scales.

Pyrrha faltered before turning her head away slightly from the duo.

_"__I may have…found someone in the woods," _she said hesitantly.

Before Ren could speak, Yang hopped forward, "Was it a boy?" she asked excitedly.

Pyrrha blinked and as she began to think of an excuse, Yang cheered loudly as she began to hop around, the fire in her hands and her head flaring high.

"YES! My Pyr-Pyr finally found a man!" she gushed, "Tell me about him. What did he look like? Was he tall? Strong? Bright teeth? Did he seem gay-"

"YANG!" Ren shouted, "Peace, please. Don't overwhelm Pyrrha."

They turned back to the animal princess, who had squirmed a bit before finally flopping onto the stone floor; it became a habit of hers when she had too much thrown at her at once, _"Yes I found a boy. I can't answer about his height because I don't know how tall average males become." _

Yang grinned, she loved Pyrrha don't get her wrong. However sometimes she just needed a bit of a push to get the princess going, plus she really was excited for Pyrrha to meet another boy. Ever since that incident with Sun, Pyrrha felt so bad she withdrew into herself and seemed more reserved.

_"__I was combing the woods for more Grimm when I smelt him," _she explained, _"he wasn't a warrior I could tell, he seemed to be running from something but I didn't know what; I don't know why, but I just felt like I needed to help him. So I followed his scent back to the human town, making sure he followed me back and once I had led him to the town he was happily acquainting himself with one of the candles-less streetlights." _

Pyrrha stopped for a moment before continuing, _"But as I left…he thanked me." _

The clock and candelabrum blinked in surprise.

Ren knew that people viewed Pyrrha as a monster, and the fact that someone had actually thanked her for helping them was…extraordinary.

Yang was happy for the Beastly Princess, about time someone thanked her. The fiery candlestick knew that since Pyrrha was thanked by the boy, it would make this person stand out strongly in her mind…and since the girl had little to none social contact in the past…many years, it would only reinforce the image.

"Do you think he could be the one to break the curse?" Yang asked.

Pyrrha shook her mane before getting to her paws and walking up to her bedroom.

_"__I do not know." _

* * *

><p>Jaune sighed as he flicked his pencil to the top of his desk for the twentieth time; his desk was a bit like an artist desk, slanted with a protrusion at the bottom to make sure none of his utensils rolled off the desk. A large illuminated the room from beside his bed, which was a light blue, his closet was open and clothes were scattered on the floor.<p>

What exactly was that thing? The way that _thing_ looked, reminded the boy of a Beowolf, but it couldn't have been because it would have been bigger in size.

So what was it exactly? Was it some kind of new Grimm? And weren't Grimm supposed to be total monsters? Why did it lead him back to the town?

Jaune sighed as he allowed the pencil to roll to the bottom of the desk again; this meant that he needed to talk to _him_ tomorrow.

Then Jaune remembered about the new policy for his combat theory class.

He needed to get Crocea Mors.

Getting up from his desk, he slowly left his room. Looking down the hall, he sees the light on in his dad's office.

Taking a deep breath he slowly walked to the door and pushed the oak door open, to see that his father was currently working on his computer. Stuffed heads of various Grimm were mounted on the wall and circled a picture of Jaune's entire family. However right beneath the picture was Crocea Mors, being propped up by two metal hooks, like a holy relic. It probably was to his father, as it was the Arc family weapon.

"Erm, dad?" He asked.

"Hm?"

His father didn't even bother to look at him, he just kept his focus on the computer.

Jaune took another breath, "I need Crocea Mors for school."

The typing on the computer stopped.

"Why do you need Crocea if you can't even-"

"My new teacher deemed in necessary."

Silence, then…

"Fine."

Jaune quickly went to the wall, the sword gleamed brightly as Jaune looked up at it, swallowing the boy stood on his tiptoes as he carefully lifting the weapon off of its hooks and walking to the oak door, not wanting to spend too much time with his father.

Just as Jaune was about to close the door behind him, his father suddenly said, "I am going to be leaving on another business trip and am going to be gone for the next couple months alright? There is plenty of money for you on the counter and don't worry about the taxes, don't throw any parties while I am away."

Jaune faltered before nodding, "Got it dad."

Not like anyone ever wanted to have any kind of party with him there.

Jaune quickly left and returned to the sanctuary that was his room, not wanting his tears to be seen by his father.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Jaune had tried putting Crocea Mors deep into his bag before leaving for school; however the object was too big to fit and was sticking out of the top like a weird antenna jutting from his backpack.<p>

So after being very frustrated he had left his house, earlier than before so he would be able to get to his locker early and put away Crocea before he could talk to his professor.

Avoiding Cardin and Emerald was just an added bonus.

Hurrying up the steps, he faintly heard the busses pull in as he walked inside the school.

Rushing to his locker, he quickly whirled the dial and entered the code (636) before swiftly jerking open the locker. Inside was just some textbooks for his later classes, and was plenty empty for his weapon, Jaune took out Crocea before shoving it into his locker. Just as he slammed the metal locker shut he turned to see Cardin striding up to him with a massive grin.

Letting out a quiet but audible gulp, Jaune glanced around to see that nobody was in the hall as Cardin approaching him with a swagger.

"Why hello there Jauney-boy," Cardin sneered.

Before Jaune could say anything and before Cardin could reach for the boy a voice suddenly spoke.

"Mr. Winchester."

They both looked to see Professor Goodwitch approach them, "I believe you have yet to turn in the assignment from yesterday," she stated before she raised an eyebrow, "Do you have it with you?"

Cardin scoffed, "No. It's with my father, who is outside right now."

Jaune knew that Cardin was lying through his teeth; his father never gave him rides because Cardin was too busy riding the bus. The only reason the klutzy teenager knew that was because of personal experience, Cardin made Jaune stop riding the bus altogether.

Goodwitch didn't lower the eyebrow, "Then go get it. The moment you walk into my class today you are to hand it to me straight away."

Cardin grumbled slightly before walking away, Jaune didn't move as Professor Goodwitch looked at him.

"I believe you have somewhere else to be Mr. Arc?" she asked.

Jaune nodded, "Y-Yeah, I-I mean yes ma'am, I do."

The older woman nodded, "I would also like to talk to you later Mr. Arc about my new class policy."

Jaune nodded as the woman left, great what was this going to be about?

Adjusting the backpack onto his back, Jaune turned around before heading down the hall before making a sharp left, where a set of double doors lay. Taking a deep breath, he pushed open the doors.

"What ho!"

Right in front of him was Professor Peter Port, wearing a red long-sleeved shirt with large brass buttons going up from his thick neck to where it was tucked into his brown slacks. His silver hair parted near the center of his head and a massive mustache that covered his mouth.

Jaune put on a weak grin, "H-Hey Professor Port."

"Why help Jaune," the professor proclaimed as his stomach jiggling slightly as he stood up tall, "What brings you to my humble abode."

"Uhhh…"

Jaune trailed off as his mind tried to comprehend how this _place _was an abode, as it was coated with mountain Grimm heads, however unlike his dad, that's what made up almost the entire room. There was his Blunderbuss on a plaque but besides that, everything was Grimm related.

Jaune shook his head as he remembered why he was there.

"Do you really know all kinds of Grimm?" he asked.

"Why of course!" Professor Port proclaimed, "What is it you need clarification on?"

"Well," Jaune scratched his head, "I don't know what it was exactly…but I know what it looked like."

Port nodded at Jaune, urging him to continue.

"Well…it was about the size of a Beowolf," he said, "But…it didn't seem able to walk on only two legs," Jaune stopped as he scratched his chin as he pondered on what exactly he saw, "It had a red mane, only it was really long in the back, like it stretched across its back…claws…"

"Jaune."

The said boy looked at his teacher, who had turned serious, "Did it have green eyes?" he asked.

"Erm…I think so?"

Port suddenly turned and with speed Jaune though improbable, he quickly wiped away the drawings of Grimm he had made before beginning to sketch on the chalkboard.

"Where did you see it Jaune?" the man asked, "Was it roaming near town? Was it, perchance lurking nearby the-"

Jaune prepared for the worst, "I was in the Forever Fall."

The sound of chalk stopped.

"What were you doing there?" The teacher demanded.

Jaune was surprised at this sudden change in demeanor of Port, before he could reply with…well anything, Port quickly turned back around.

"Never mind, but was this what you saw?"

Jaune looked and was stunned to see a perfect creation of the creature he saw.

"Yeah, yeah that was it."

Port sighed before turning to Jaune, "What do you know of the Demonic Queen?"

**A/N: That's it for this chapter, also one quick question. **

**Do you think I should go back and fix some things in the story? Or should I leave it? I am sorry that I am asking but I am not feeling all that good tonight. **

**Read, Have a Great Night and God Bless**

**Review**


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